What's this?

It's DH's passport - after a trip to .... the washing machine!

Poor man. He has had a rough week. The much awaited work retreat was a total disaster for him, with him being recalled to Singapore after the first night to fix up stuff in the Singapore office. He may as well have been in Vietnam for all we saw of him the next few days.

Anyway, sleep deprivation does funny things to you. Apparently it causes you to find and use obscure pockets in your clothes, and not empty your pockets when you finally get to throw them in the washer.

The cost of this oversight? $350, plus no travel for at least two weeks. Somehow I don't think that will mean we will see more of DH at home though ... he will be practically living at the office 24-7 until this gets sorted out.

Ramping It Up!!

Let's get busy!
Heaps of things happening and doing my best to keep up with it all.

Firstly, kids are back at school, which should theoretically free up some time, but it hasn't. MrM is missing not having the kids around and we are struggling with naps and general routine. Hopefully that won't take long to sort itself it.

I hope so anyway, as I will need time to do normal household stuff as our live in maid will be leaving us in a couple of weeks to get married. I'm sure I'll groan about doing the work, but I am looking forward to doing it "my way".

Kristy and I are working hard on FFC stuff. Two meetings this week, probably the same next week. We have gotten past the "pie in the sky" dreaming and are really getting stuff done as deadlines approach.

I've also decided that if I want to be productive with my crafting I have to maintain a regular habit. It surprised me that while I've been getting lots of ideas for projects I haven't been able to complete them. This has mainly been due to lack of skill. Things I used to know how to do I have forgotten, or techniques that I could master on first attempt just aren't working any more.

Once things are settled into as much of a predictable routine as possible I am going to try and establish a daily (only 15min) crafting time. I used to think that such a small time wasn't worth it, as I would be unlikely to finish a project in that time. Now I realise I need to create a habit - not worry about outcome.

Peeved

What a few weeks it has been. Got back from Oz, and pretty much straight after packed the kids up to defrost on the beach in Phuket. It wasn't quite the relax and recharge long weekend we were hoping for. MrM didn't adjust to the heat and humidity well and was grumpy beyond belief. Add to that an annoying rash which first appeared the morning we left (and has made several reappearances since - Dr seems unconcerned: "insect bite reactions") and a cold thanks to artic a/c in the hotel, and MrM was only ready to enjoy our trip on the day we left.
*He was introduced to both the sand (loved it) and waves (hated it) at the beach, and the kiddy pool (LOVED IT!!!)

Anyway, the big kids are back at school this week. Hoping that means I get back to "normal" routine soon. Hmmm .... not that we had a routine .... but I will soon have to, as our live in helper is leaving us in a couple of weeks. She is off to Italy to help her sister who is due to give birth to her 2nd set of twins. She is going back to The Philippines first and might be getting married ... IF her fiancee can get time off work (from UK).

I surprised myself by having a crafty weekend. Lots of great ideas and enthusiasm to make a last ditch effort to make something that might be included in Kristy's book. Alas, dissapointment quickly set in. I have realised that regular crafting time is necessary to hone techniques. My attempt at image transfer was a dismal failure and brought a quick halt to proceedings. Evidently I don't handle failure well! It didn't work the first time, so I wasn't prepared to persevere. Hmmm, might need to work on that ... not a trait I want to pass onto the kids!